Fairfield rolls over FDU for fifth straight win

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

TEANECK, N.J. — On what was billed ugly sweater night at FDU, Knights fans could be forgiven if they were to label Thursday an ugly game night as well.

Visiting Fairfield jumped on the accelerator, rolling out to a 30 point halftime advantage en route to a 92-69 victory over FDU, the Stags’ fifth straight after four consecutive losses.

For interim head coach Chris Casey, the surge has marked a much-needed confidence boost and validation of what Fairfield can do with a full contingent among its ranks after being beset by injuries through all of November.

“What happened was we got off to a slow start with everything,” Casey noted. “We took over about October 16. That didn’t give us a lot of time to put in place what we wanted to do. That, and a few injuries, set us back. Now, we’ve gotten healthy and everyone has a better understanding of what we want to do. This has been such a great group to coach and they are really coming together.”

Midway through the first half, Fairfield (6-6) buried a shot beyond the arc on three consecutive possessions. With the Knight defense tightening up on the perimeter, Fairfield ran a few high-post screen-and-rolls to perfection, resulting in several uncontested trips to the rim.

On the night, the Stags were effective both in transition and the half-court, outscoring FDU in the paint by a 54-42 margin on top of making the host Knights pay for their mistakes with an 18-6 edge in points off turnovers.

On a night like Thursday, it’s tough to come away with any positives on the short end of a decisive loss. Still, FDU head coach Jack Castleberry saw a few things to take away from this encounter.

“Davin Francis did some good things while he was out there and I thought (Jo’el) Emanuel did a good job making some plays for us,” he noted. “We knew what they would do and went over it in the scout, but it came down to execution. A disappointing effort on our part and not who we are.”

Following the first 20 minutes that saw FDU trailing, 56-26, the Knights outscored Fairfield after halftime, 12-6. The Stags still had a 24-point lead but the start out of the locker room showed FDU came out on a positive note. Getting a few early scores also allowed the Knights to get into full-court pressure, something they were unable to utilize to a good degree over the first 20 minutes. Fairfield regrouped after the first media timeout, even as Casey admitted his team could not match those first 20 minutes. Regardless, they stayed in command.

“We just dug a hole that was too deep,” lamented Castleberry.

Both teams came into Thursday’s contest averaging 69 possessions per game, but it was Fairfield who dictated the pace, doing so to the tune of a 75-possession contest that harkened back to the Running Stags teams of the mid-2010s.

“We want to play fast,” Casey said. “We have good guards and we work on that in practice. Lately, we have been playing at a fast pace. It’s something we want to do.”

Fairfield has one more tuneup before conference play resumes, hosting Le Moyne on December 30. Casey, who spent six years as the head coach at Niagara before landing at Fairfield, has yet to dive into preparation for the league slate, but knows to expect the unexpected in a MAAC that is truly anybody’s race this season.

“We really haven’t gotten to see or get familiar with the teams outside of who we played,” he admitted. “We lost at home to Iona, who is very good, and won at Rider, another good team. At any rate, the MAAC race should be balanced and interesting as it always is. This is a league known for good guards and good coaches.”